The goal to elucidate the entire human genome has created an interest in technologies for rapid DNA sequencing, both for small and large-scale applications. Sequencing speed, length of sequence that can be read during a single sequencing run, and amount of nucleic acid template required are all proper considerations to improve sequencing methods.
These research challenges suggest aiming to sequence the genetic information of single cells without the need for time-consuming, one-at-a-time, analysis techniques. Large-scale genome projects are currently too expensive to realistically be carried out for a large number of organisms or patients. Furthermore, as knowledge of the genetic basis for human diseases increases, there will be an ever-increasing need for accurate, high-throughput DNA sequencing that is affordable for clinical applications. Practical methods for determining the base pair sequences of single molecules of nucleic acids, preferably with high speed and long read lengths, would provide the necessary measurement capability.
What is needed is a highly automated, cost effective, and highly parallel system that can simultaneously sequence thousands of nucleotide fragments.